Health Care Organizations Agree on Directions to Address Physician Shortages

More than 130 delegates from 60 government and health organizations gathered for a National Conference on Physician Human Resources from January 22 to 24, 2006 and agreed on three strategic directions that require immediate action to address physician shortages in Canada. The official statement from the Conference (see attached) calls for a new national body to coordinate and improve physician human resource planning in Canada; various measures to ensure Canadians reap the full benefits of new ways to deliver health care using teams of various professionals working together; and improved and ongoing research to monitor the demand for, and supply of physicians in Canada to avoid future surpluses or shortages.

“When more than 60 government and health organizations from across this country agree on solutions, it sends a clear signal to all players in the health care system that the time to act on shortages of health professionals is now,” says Dr. Hugh Scully, Communications Co-Chair of Task Force Two, the body responsible for the Conference and for three years of research and consultation that preceded it. “All delegates agreed that the strategic directions we’ve developed are sound and the momentum we’ve built over the last three years simply cannot be lost.”

The National Conference was the largest ever of its kind in Canada and brought together a historic coalition of organizations from all levels of government, various health professions and other key players in Canada’s health care system. In workshops and plenary sessions, delegates assessed and openly discussed strategic directions in five theme areas: 1) Educating and training physicians; 2) Working in teams with other health professionals; 3) Licensure, regulatory issues and liability; 4) Recruiting and retaining physicians; and 5) Improving medical infrastructure and technology.

Read:
Moving Forward to Improve Physician Human Resources
Statement from the National Conference on Physician Human Resources

Canada’s Physician Workforce: Occupational Human Resources Data Assessment and Trends Analysis

The past decade has seen considerable change in the number of physicians practicing in Canada, the geographic variations in their practice, and the manner in which they deliver care. Many factors have compounded these issues such as demographic changes in the population and the medical profession, major restructuring of health care systems and in particular, reforms in the delivery of primary care.

Task Force Two is mandated to undertake a comprehensive examination of the labour market for physicians, and to develop options for a long-term physician human resource strategy that is sensitive to Canada ’s provincial and territorial realities. This report is part of the overall activities of Phase Two of Task Force Two’s workplan. Building on the literature review and gap analysis that was undertaken in Phase One, the goal of PhaseTwo is to understand the labour market for physicians in Canada and identify the priority human resource issues facing physicians today and in the future. A second goal of this phase is to identify practice models suited for the future and assess their implications in context of the priorities of the physician occupation.

The final phase of the project, Phase Three, will be the development of a human resources strategy(s) for physicians in Canada.

Read the Executive Summary Report >